Sunday Supper Status Update

I must warn you that I have been curbing sugar out of my life, and normally when I do this it affects my brain in ways I can't explain.  Normally it makes me depressed which is always good for a blog post but not for my sanity.

"Update your status with me face to face, I promise I will shower first. "

Sunday is here and that means one thing, Sunday supper.  Yeah Sunday supper, for those unfamiliar, this is where you spend the majority of the day making a dinner or supper and then you and your family sit down and enjoy the food slowly and relish in the idea of being unplugged for the evening.  As a kid we didn't always eat the most gormuet food but we did enjoy our hamburger helper together.  It would be a time where issues would be resolved and stories would be told.  Laughter would be at a constant and I would have to say this time spent are some of my most cherished moments as a kid.  When I remember my Dad's laugh, I remember it from countless times we had Sunday supper.

In order for this to work today I think you would agree  you will need to go unplugged.  Collect the cell phones and other tethered devices and put them in a basket and turn them off.  I know this will be difficult because some folks just have to check their phone every 4 seconds to see if anyone has updated their status on Facebook.  My opinion I find that Facebook has gobbled up the time in people's lives that was reserved for wanting to really know how someone is, instead we just read a typed status update.  But that is a rant for another day when I crankier.  With the slow food movement growing in popularity in this country I think its important to take time to unplug from what is dragging you down and plug into what can make you alive again.

I think food can be a catalyst to bring people together in ways that most have forgotten.  Flavors can arouse a memory that can be shared with people face to face, instead of a dumb status update on Facebook.  The idea that food is more than just nourishment for our body, but a way to refuel your soul I think has been lost by the cattle troughs we tend to go to when we are hungry.  You know the place, its where you can sit down and get a chicken fingers basket that your digestive system will eradicate instantly, yeah not pretty.  So why not just spend Sunday cooking and reuniting with your friends and family.  Reconnect with stories and laughter that will fill your soul instead of blank space on the internet.

If you have a Sunday supper tradition I would love to hear it.  If you don't, I challenge you to start one and let me know how it goes. 

Celery Root: Ugly On The Outside, But Tasty On The Inside

Yield: 4 servings
Butter	2 TBS
Celery root, 1 Lb, trimmed, 1 inch dice	2 each
Potato, large dice	1 each
Onions, medium, chopped	2 each
Celery, chopped	1 C
Leek, chopped, white part only	1 each
Salt and freshly ground black pepper	as needed
Garlic cloves, minced	2 each
Thyme, fresh	1 tsp
Dry vermouth or dry white wine	1/2 C
Bay leaf	1 each
Chicken or vegetable stock	5 C
Extra virgin olive oil	1/4 C
Celery leaves, fresh	as needed
Lemon juice	as needed
Olive oil	as needed
Umbrian truffles, black, shaved	as needed
Instructions: 1. Melt butter in a heavy, large saucepan over medium heat. Add celery root, potato, onions, celery and leek. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 20 minutes. 2. Add garlic and thyme to pot and stir 1 minute. Add vermouth and bay leaf to pot, then increase heat to boil until most of the liquid evaporates, about 8 minutes. 3. Add stock to pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are very tender, about 15 minutes. Remove bay leaf and let soup cool somewhat, then puree soup in a blender in batches until smooth. 4. Return soup to saucepan. Blend in olive oil and reheat upon service. Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with extra virgin olive oil, celery leaves tossed in lemon juice and olive oil and thinly shaved truffles.

Wine and Conspiracies

I think if it wasn't for the grocery store I don't think I would have any idea what holiday I am supposed to celebrate next.  I consider myself pretty slick in a grocery store, I know what I need before hand, and that is normally what I get, unless there is a sale on bear claws then all bets are off.  I noticed on a recent trip to the grocery store that the next holiday that I will be having to celebrate is Valentine's Day.  Or I like to call the granddaddy of all Hallmark Holidays.  I consider this holiday a grand conspiracy between Hallmark cards and all the jewelry stores in the world.  Every year I say I am not going to celebrate this holiday but then I am reminded that I am married, and if I want to remain that way I better make a tasty sexy dinner accompanied by some sort of present normally in a long stem variety.

The dinner part of Valentine's day is something I don't mind to prepare.  I normally have a bottle of wine opened and ready before I even start cooking.  Also I have some music streaming through the stereo and I am singing at the top of my lungs.  And yes I am by myself so to not burn the ears of anyone not even the dog.  But what should be on the menu for Valentine's Day?  Normally I would say something that isn't too crazy and when I say crazy I mean you can make it while drinking a bottle of wine.  This means keep it simple stupid.  This should be something with fresh ingredients and in one plate and shouldn't be too heavy.  This is because you want to make sure you consume twice as much wine as food.  Come on, it's Valentine's day and it falls on a Monday this year, not normally a day where there is a "night cap" if you know what I mean.

So what have we learned today?  First Valentine's day is conspiracy between Hallmark and every jewelery store in the world.  Secondly, when preparing Valentine's day dinner you should consume a 2:1 ratio of wine to food.  And finally, I may have a slight drinking problem considering how much I just talked about wine and its just after 9am.

To Serve And Be Served

Here is an easy question, what is the worst service you ever received in a restaurant?  Since I live in the land of box format eateries i.e.(Applebee's, O'Charleys, etc)  I have a million different stories of bad service.  Most involve a waiter or waitress not simply listening and having about the attention span of an ant.  They are more interested in getting back to their phone so they can OMG to their boyfriend about how much they hate their job.  Meanwhile I am wondering if my drink will ever be refilled.  To get bad service usually means that either you got a bad server or the kitchen is a train wreck. Either way your probably not going back to that restaurant for a long time if ever.

Since I have been at Culinary school I have seen all ends of this endless circle of excellence and disaster.  I have worked in the school kitchen and I have served in the dining room class.  If your not in the industry then you just expect to get great service and great food every time, right?  Before the doors open this is the wish of everyone working, trust me.  To have a perfect service is an expectation that you will dream about, but will never happen.  What separates a good restaurants from bad one is how they can work together to overcome the train wreck and make it seamless to the customer.

Yeah so the cook is hungover, too bad cook and make it taste good.  Yeah so the waitress just had her boyfriend break with her, so what you better have a smile on your face and treat each table like its your grandma or Sister Ann from St. freaking Mary's.  Is this harsh?  Heck yeah it is, and that is what makes this industry one of the hardest to work in on a daily basis.  Because the customers coming into your restaurant don't care about any of your sob stories, they just want their drink refilled and their food correct and hot and served with a smile.

So if you are in the industry and you thought this post was uncalled for then I would say, the world need ditch diggers too.  As for you Mr. or Mrs customer I would tell you to not pay for crap.  If you feel your food sucked don't pay for it, because your food and your dining experience shouldn't be like a slap from a clown.

BBQ Sauce On The Brain

When the weather takes a nasty turn I find myself inside and I think about condiments.  My favorite one is BBQ sauce, yes I consider it a condiment and I like to use it on almost everything.  Here is a recipe for a pretty darn good BBQ sauce.  It calls for 2 bottles of beer I should suggest two for the recipe and two to drink while making. 

Yield: 8 servings
Bacon, smoked, diced (or one ham hock)	8 Oz
Onion, large, smoked, coarsely chopped	1 each
Garlic cloves, smoked, chopped	4 each
Ancho chilies, stems and seeds removed	2 each
Arból chiles, stems removed	2 each
Cracked black pepper	1 TBS
Worcestershire sauce	2 TBS
Beer, 12-Oz bottles	2 each
Ketchup	2 C
Hot pepper sauce	6 dashes
Lemons, juice of	2 each
Kosher salt	2 tsp
Instructions:
1. Place bacon in a small sauce pot and cook over medium heat until crisp. Add smoked onions and garlic and sauté until translucent. Add ancho and arból chiles to pot and cook until chiles start to toast. Add cracked black pepper and deglaze pan with Worcestershire sauce and beer. Reduce sauce until it starts to thicken, then add ketchup and reduce heat to low. Cook for about 15 minutes. Season sauce with hot pepper sauce, lemon juice and kosher salt. Strain barbeque sauce through a chinois and reserve.